Intrada Soundtrack Forum

The CD release of the score was good but it wasn't complete and I know that the main title theme wasn't the one used in the movie. It would be really swell if this score was re-released in its entire form containing all the music used in the film as well as alternate.

There could be scope for even a 2-disc set, if the contents of a so-called "promo" release from Germany is any indication. (The running time for this aforementioned release is 96 minutes.) It's interesting that many of us consider this score one of the most sublime and beautiful ever written for the screen, yet according to director Fred Zinnemann it exemplifies the composer's hatred for the Catholic Church! (If one considers this perspective, I wonder what other listeners think of the opening credits music for DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS? The notion can't escape me that there is an undisguised mocking quality to the music!)

Wow, I didn't know Waxman hated the Catholic Church. I did own a CD release of the score a while back but I had to give it up along with a few other CDs to help survive in our crazy economy. Anyway, the CD was nice but the Main Title track was not the version I was hoping for. The main theme is great, one of the best I've ever heard. I also like much of the music heard while the movie is taking place in the Congo. Anyway, I hope somebody releases this score in it's entirety soon. It'll be welcome.

The claim about Waxman's attitude to the Catholic Church appears in Fred Zinnemann's autobiography, and has appeared in other forums. It's unclear the basis for the claim: whether the composer expressly said so, or whether the director simply inferred it from the music itself. I can understand Waxman's bitterness to the Nazis, as of course he was physically assaulted by brownshirt thugs and subsequently left Germany. The composer's true views on the Catholic Church might only be illucidated by his son John (and I can understand the latter's reluctance to substantiate them). Anyway Waxman always counted THE NUN'S STORY as one of his finest achievements. The differences between the album and movie performances may be due to the fact that portions were re-recorded in Hollywood (presumably after the end of the musicians' strike). I'm fairly sure that only music recorded in Rome appeared on the Stanyan LP and CD editions. I'd also like another Warner Brothers score by the composer to be re-issued: THE SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS. Herrmann said that Waxman was always serious about his film music, and we are the benificiaries of that dedication to excellence.

Hey, there's another good Waxman score, "The Spirit of St. Louis". I own the Varese Sarabande CD release of the score which is good. My only complaint is that it's not in sequential order. Let's hope something gets going with that one as well. I'd really like to see more of the golden era composers get their work released. Waxman and Steiner haven't had any releases for along time.